When we test VPNs, we use the Ookla speed test tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.) This test provides metrics for latency, download speeds, and upload speeds. Any one of these can be an important measurement depending on your needs, but we tend to view the download speed as the most important. After all, we live in an age of digital consumption.

A “kill switch” goes by many names, but the term describes VPN software that shuts off all network traffic in and out of your computer if the encrypted connection fails. A hiccup in your Wi-Fi or even with your ISP can cause a VPN to disconnect, and if you then maintain an unsecure connection—especially if the VPN software doesn’t alert you that it’s no longer protecting your traffic—that wipes out all the benefits of your VPN. We considered kill switches to be mandatory. And although we looked for apps that made it easy to add rules about when to activate kill switches, we considered special config files or manual firewall tweaks to be too complex. (iOS doesn’t support any kill-switch features; we address a few iOS-specific problems that apply to all VPN services in a separate section.)

IPVanish is questionable whether it provides a full DNS Leak Protection and if all the problematic IPv4, IPv6 and WebRTC protocols are covered. IPVanish utilizes OpenVPN, IKEv2 and L2TP/IPsec VPN protocols. No-logging of data is utilized. IPVanish also uses 256-bit AES encryption. All of the above listed features ensure a secure browsing experience for users.

The more locations a VPN provider houses servers, the more flexible it is when you want to choose a server in a less-congested part of the world or geoshift your location. And the more servers it has at each location, the less likely they are to be slow when lots of people are using the service at the same time. Of course, limited bandwidth in and out of an area may still cause connections to lag at peak times even on the most robust networks.
VPN websites that label themselves as “Privacy Mentors”, “Security Professionals” and blah blah are really just phony! We at BestVPN.co, however, take honesty and unbiasedness very seriously. This website was created from the dire need of a legit and accurate review website. One that refuses to get “paid” to list a certain provider.After all, we want our viewers to be well-informed and ensure they are making the right decision. Especially, since there has been a massive surge in VPN providers using illegal practices to boost their sales.
Downloading Files: Yes, let’s be honest – many people use VPN connections to download files via BitTorrent. This can actually be useful even if you’re downloading completely legal torrents – if your ISP is throttling BitTorrent and making it extremely slow, you can use BitTorrent on a VPN to get faster speeds. The same is true for other types of traffic your ISP might interfere with (unless they interfere with VPN traffic itself.)
We've knocked CyberGhost down a peg from last year's standings because the service's network performance wasn't as great this time around in our tests. Yet it has a feature-loaded, user-friendly interface, with convenient buttons in the Windows client software for streaming media, torrenting files, protecting your Wi-Fi transmissions and evading censorship. (The Mac desktop software has fewer features.)
A VPN allows a user to securely access private networks with complete peace of mind. Whether you want a VPN in a country like South Africa for example, or in any other country, in the modern age, everything is possible. It has similarities to a firewall, except that a VPN disguises your IP address, so you are untraceable. By changing your IP address a top VPN like IPVanish ensures that if anyone is spying on you, they will not see your correct geographic location. VPNs use a combination of encryption protocols and dedicated connections; therefore, even if a hacker tries to access some of your data, they would be unable to read due to it being encrypted. With this level of encryption and security, you can always be sure that you are browsing anonymously with your VPN.
IPVanish is continuously emerging in different reviews, charts and news traveling from mouth to mouth. IPVanish is located in the United States and its Chief Technology Officer is Josh Gagliardi, who works at Highwinds, which is a subsidiary of the cybersecurity giant StackPath. IPVanish provides speeds almost as close as a person’s original Internet connection speed.

Billed at $99.00, you save a staggering 41% on the original monthly pricing, which is quite budget-friendly, to say the least. Once you sign up, you receive fast speeds for streaming/downloading all types of content and engage in P2P/torrenting. You also gain the ability of connecting to 5 devices simultaneously, and leveraging a 30-day refund guarantee.

Price-wise, Norton WiFi Privacy is pretty generous, too. A one-year subscription (for one device only), costs just £19.99 for the first year, and a 5-connection account costs £29.99 per year. However, the price jumps up after the first year, to £39.99 for 1 device and £59.99 for 5 devices. That’s still better than some, mind, but you may want to disable auto renewal, just in case.
The best all-around VPN for streaming is ExpressVPN because it works with a wide range of streaming services, has excellent performance, and offers the best lineup of apps for all types of streaming devices – from Android TV boxes to tablets, computers, and phones. With ExpressVPN’s 24/7 live chat support, they can help you get everything setup correctly.
Private Internet Access, or PIA, is one of the most visible, privacy-focused VPNs available. Because of its reputation and advocacy concerning online privacy and security, it has also been a Wirecutter staff pick. But whether you prioritize speed and performance or trust and transparency, our top pick is a better bet. If you find PIA attractive because of its low price, note that spending just a little more on TorGuard will buy you much better performance.
CyberGhost is one of the better VPNs out there by virtue of having a number of helpful features, such as a killswitch, which will halt all traffic if the VPN tunnel is suspended for whatever reason, ad blockers and tracker blockers, and built-in shortcuts to sites and services which are either geo-locked or the likes of Twitter and Wikipedia, which are frequently censored by authoritarian goverments.
Users need to make sure the provider they select, offers maximum privacy and anonymity. As a result, there should be no DNS leaks. Below we conduct a leak test to ensure that you are not caught by government agencies or copyright infringement trolls in your country. We connected to a server in Singapore, and the DNS address claims the same. Nothing points to our original US location, which means you are completely secure when using Mullvad!
TunnelBear is designed for a very specific group of people: people who want a VPN service but don’t want to mess around with configuration or become IT experts to make their connections more secure. And it caters brilliantly for that market, with a very straightforward interface and jargon-free writing. In truth, all of the VPN services these days do this but TunnelBear tries very hard to stand out. It’s not for power users - there isn’t much you can change - but with up to five simultaneous connections, servers across 20 countries and decent performance on US and Canadian websites. Longer connections can be slower, though: it’s when the relatively small number of server locations makes itself obvious. There’s a free version that limits you to 500MB of monthly traffic, and if you pay annually the price of the full version drops from $9.99 to $4.99 per month.
This website is an independent comparison site that aims to help consumers find the most suitable product for their needs. We are able to maintain a free, high-quality service by charging an advertising fee to featured brands whenever a user completes a purchase. These advertising fees might impact the placement of the brands on this page and combined with the conversion rates might impact the scoring as well which are further based on a combination of review findings, user experience and product popularity. For more information please review our how we rate page. We make best effort to present up-to-date information; however, we do not compare or include all service providers in the market
Our highly thorough and comprehensive review format includes assessing a VPN from every SINGLE ASPECT! We have signed up with a total of 80 providers, taking our complete time in assessing every one of them. This helps us accurately categorize them, according to user needs.Each VPN is tested on multiple platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.
You are probably now aware how important conducting a DNS Leak Test is for providers. You would not want to sign up with a provider that fails to meet the most basic demands of users. If you analyze the DNS Leak Test below, you will notice VyprVPN’s Australian server utilizes four different DNS addresses. However, none of them reveal any information of us being based in the US. In fact, if you look closely each address has the “AU” initials.
Make sure when allocating VPN connections that the remote computers meet the same security requirements as computers on your local LAN—stricter, if possible. At a minimum, all remote VPN clients should have antivirus software and firewall software to offer some minimal protection, although some personal firewall software can interfere with some VPN client software. Include VPN client systems, such as home computers, field laptops, and partner and vendor machines, in all security assessments or vulnerability scans that you perform. You can check them the same way you check your local machines by making sure your remote VPN clients are logged on when you do your security testing and including the VPN IP range in your tests. Just make sure you get permission before you scan any machines your company doesn't own. If you use Active Directory (AD), you can also push out a standard security policy to your Win2K or later VPN clients to make sure that they conform to the policy for machines on your network.

If you’re worried about which is more secure for business use, the answer is clearly a VPN — you can force all network traffic on the system through it. However, if you just want an encrypted connection to browse the web with from public Wi-Fi networks in coffee shops and airports, a VPN and SSH server both have strong encryption that will serve you well.

Avast SecureLine and Avira Phantom VPN are run by antivirus companies as complements to their primary businesses. These services are also limited to Windows, Mac, iOS and Android and don't work without client software. But they offer few features, have a couple of dozen servers at most and don't let you pay anonymously. However, the companies are known quantities, and the services are handy for occasional travelers.

PureVPN does not log connection information. We like that they offer a 30-day refund policy. They got bonus points because, important for some of our readers, PureVPN supports bitcoin payments and you're going like their blazing fast performance. Also, you can grow with them. If after some time, you need to scale up to business-level plans, the company has offerings for growth. Pricing is middle-of-the-road,at $10.95 per month and $35,88 per year.Finally, we like that PurVPN has both Kodi and a Chromebook solution called out right on their Web page. In addition, PureVPN earns the distinction of being the first VPN service we've seen to fully implement the GDPR.